THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. IN MY CAREER, I HAVE BEEN PART OF OR WITNESSED SOME INCREDIBLE TRIBUTES. I HAVE TO SAY, MY FRIEND, I HAD NEVER WITNESSED A TRIBUTE LIKE I HEARD TODAY. [APPLAUSE] JILL AND I ARE HONORED TO BE ASKED BACK. LET ME SAY TO THOSE SURVIVORS , MY GOD, YOU HAVE SURVIVED AND SWORD. -- SOARED. IT WAS WORTH IT JUST TO HEAR EACH OF YOU SPEAK. YOU ARE TRULY INSPIRING. I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING OF THE OF AS WHAT ALL OF YOU JUST SAID. [APPLAUSE] YOU ARE DANGEROUS, YOUNG MAN. YOU ARE REALLY GOOD. [LAUGHTER] I AM SERIOUS, IT IS ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE. GOVERNOR, MAYOR, YOU ALWAYS SPEAK WELL. TOMMY, I CAN TELL YOU ONE THING, THERE IS NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN HERE WHO'S PART YOU DID NOT SPEAK TO. THEY UNDERSTOOD EVERY SINGLE WORD YOU SAID. [APPLAUSE] YOU HAVE BEEN MY FRIEND FOR A LONG TIME. THE REASON THEY HEARD IT IS BECAUSE YOUR HEART IS AS AS THE CITY. IT IS AN HONOR TO BE WITH YOU. [APPLAUSE] TOM, THE BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR HAVING JILL AND ME. BUT WHAT AN INCREDIBLE JOB YOU HAVE DONE. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DAY. AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR THE SURVIVORS. IT IS IMPORTANT DAY FOR THE NATION. IT IS AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR AMERICA. AND THE FAMILIES OF MARTIN AND LING ZOO AND CRYSTAL AND THE OFFICER, THIS IS, IT IS A BITTERSWEET MOMENT. FOR ALL OF YOU. YOU KNOW, THOSE OF YOU AND MANY OF YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH YOUR OWN SORROWS. KNOW THAT THE ANNIVERSARY THAT IS CELEBRATED AND PAID TRIBUTE, IT BRINGS EVERY MEMBER -- EVERY MEMORY BACK WITH SUCH SHARP RELIEF THAT IN A SENSE, YOU ALMOST WOULD RATHER NOT HAVE IT HAPPEN. BUT, AS I SAID TO YOU WHEN WE TALKED IN THE BACK OF THE AUDITORIUM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE BECAUSE -- AND I HOPE YOU TAKE SOME SOLACE AGAIN, FROM THE OUTPOURING OF LOVE AND AFFECTION OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS GREAT CITY AND THE COUNTRY. IT IS STILL DIFFICULT. I KNOW THAT NO MEMORIAL, NO WORDS, NO ACT CAN FULLY PROVIDE THE SOLACE THAT YOUR HEARTS STILL YEARN TO ACQUIRE. I HOPE IT EASES YOUR GRIEF A LITTLE BIT. IT TAKES INCREDIBLE COURAGE FOR YOU TO BE HERE. I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION TO PEOPLE ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHO SUFFERED AND ARE GOING THROUGH TRAGEDY. THEY WILL SEE AND HEAR YOU AND KNOW YOU AND THE FACT THAT YOU'RE HERE, I PROMISE YOU, GIVES THEM HOPE THAT MAYBE, MAYBE THEY COULD OVERCOME WHAT THEY'RE FACING RIGHT NOW. THE ONE THING I THINK YOU VASTLY UNDERESTIMATE ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING FOR SO MANY PEOPLE IN DEALING WITH YOUR GRIEF AND COURAGE, IT INSPIRED THEM AND WE OWE YOU FOR JUST BEING BACK AND TO PATRICK AND ADRIEN, DAVID, ALL THE SURVIVORS HERE, AND ELSEWHERE, YOU ARE LIVING PROOF. YOU ARE LIVING PROOF THAT AMERICA CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED. YOU ARE THE PROOF OF THAT ASSERTION. SO MUCH HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM YOU BUT YOU HAVE NEVER GIVEN UP. ALL OF THE OTHER SURVIVORS NOT HERE, NOT EVEN THOUGH STUFF J -- TOUGH DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL, BUT SAYING, I DO NOT KNOW HOW I COULD TO THIS ANYMORE , I DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE, WONDERING HOW MUCH MORE YOU CAN TAKE. YOU HAVE MUSTERED THE COURAGE. YOU GOT UP AND KEPT GOING AND BROUGHT AN AWFUL LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WITH YOU AS YOU WALKED ON WITH THAT PROSTATIC LEG. YOU ARE HERE. YOU ARE UNDETERRED. YOU ARE UNYIELDING. THE STUBBORN PERSEVERANCE THE MAYOR SPOKE OF IN THE FACE OF UNFATHOMABLE CHALLENGE, THAT IS PURE COLOR -- PURE COURAGE. IT IS JUST YOUR RICH. MY MOM WAS A REALLY GREAT OLD IRISH LADY AND SHE HAD AN EXPRESSION. SHE SAID TO EACH OF MY SIBLINGS, YOU ARE DEFINED BY YOUR COURAGE AND REDEEMED BY YOUR LOYALTY. YOU ARE THE PUREST EXAMPLE OF MY MOTHER'S STANDARD I HAVE EVER MET. YOU ARE DEFINED BY YOUR COURAGE AND YOU ARE REDEEMED BY YOUR LOYALTY. YOU DID NOT JUST SAY TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. YOU REACHED BACK TO HELP SO MANY MORE PEOPLE AND THE LOYALTY YOU INSPIRED IN THIS GREAT CITY , EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT A BOSTON FAN, I LOVE YOU GUYS. [LAUGHTER] WHAT AN INCREDIBLE CITY. IT REALLY IS. YOU ARE AN AND WRITABLE, INCREDIBLE CITY. I KNOW POLITICIANS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT, THAT YOU ARE NOT A RED SOX FAN. WHERE I COME FROM, IF YOU WERE FROM THE RED SOX, YOU GOT THE LIVING HELL KICKED OUT OF YOU. THERE WAS A REASON NOT TO BE. [LAUGHTER] YOU HAVE BECOME THE FACE OF AMERICA'S RESOLVE NOT UNLIKE WHAT HAPPENED IN 9/11. YOU HAVE BECOME AMERICA'S RESOLVE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE. PEOPLE KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU. THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE. THEY KNOW YOUR PRIDE. THEY KNOW YOUR COURAGE. THEY KNOW YOUR RESOLVE. THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE. THAT IS WHY THE TWISTED TERRORISTS WHO ACTED HERE AND OTHER PLACES DO WHAT THEY DO. THEY TRY TO INSTILL FEAR. THEY TRY TO INSTILL FEAR SO THAT WE WILL JETTISON WHAT WE VALUE THE MOST AND WHAT THE WORLD MOST VALUES ABOUT US. AN OPEN SOCIETY. OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE. OUR FREEDOM OF RELIGION, OUR ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY, THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION AND IDEAS AND PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY THE WILLINGNESS AND CAPACITY TO GATHER ANYWHERE IN ANY NUMBERS, AND SAY WHAT WE BELIEVE. THAT IS THEIR OBJECTIVE. IT IS WHAT THEY ATTEMPTED TO DO INDIRECTLY IN BOSTON. TO MAKE US AFRAID. NOT JUST BOSTON, BUT TO MAKE AMERICA AFRAID. SO THAT MAYBE, MAYBE, WE BEGIN TO CHANGE OUR WAYS. THAT IS THE OBJECTIVE. THE VERY SO UL OF WHO WE ARE. THEY FIGURE IF THEY INSTILL ENOUGH HERE, WE WILL CHANGE. IT INFURIATES THEM. WE REFUSE TO BEND. WE REFUSE TO CHANGE. REFUSE TO YIELD TO FEAR. YOU ARE BOSTON STRONG. BUT AMERICA IS STRONG. THEY'RE NOT UNLIKE YOU. ALL AROUND AMERICA, THAT IS WHAT MAKES US SO PROUD OF THIS CITY AND THIS THEY AND MAKES ME SO PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. WE HAVE NEVER YIELDED TO FEAR, NEVER. JUST LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE OVER THE PAST YEAR TO RECOVER FROM THE ATTACK. YOU ESTABLISHED FOUNDATIONS, COLLEGES SET UP SCHOLAR -- SCHOLARSHIPS AND LOCAL BUSINESSES SET UP CHARITY JIVES. SO MUCH MORE. THE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE ONE FUND, HAVE GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND TO RAISE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO HELP THE FAMILIES AND SURVIVORS IN THE CITY RECOVER AND REBUILD. YOU HAVE TAKEN PRIDE IN A COMMUNITY THAT STOOD BY YOU AND PROTECTED YOU. PRIDE IN THE WORLD'S IS GREATEST DOCTORS, NURSES, EMTS, NATIONAL GUARD, MEMBERS, VETERANS, TEACHERS, OF COURSE, THE WORLD'S GREATEST POLICE OFFICERS AND THE FIREFIGHTERS. [APPLAUSE] LAST YEAR, I HAD THE GREAT HONOR OF ASKING TO SPEAK AT M.I.T.. WHEN I ARRIVED , THOUSANDS OF MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM DO IN-LINE. INCREDIBLE. THEY SHOWED UP BECAUSE THEY SHARE A FUNDAMENTAL OBLIGATION TO SERVE AND AN UNBREAKABLE SENSE OF DUTY. IT IS NOT JUST WHAT THEY DO. IT IS WHO THEY ARE. IT IS WHO SEAN WAS, PATROLLING AND PROTECTING THE CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY HE LOVED. IT WAS ALSO WHAT THE OFF THEIR DENNIS PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE LAST YEAR IN THE SHOOTOUT AND SUFFERED A SEVERE HEAD INJURY AND ULTIMATELY, HE SUCCUMB. IT IS ALSO, AS MENTIONED BY THE MAYOR, IT IS ALSO TO FIREFIGHTERS MICHAEL KENNEDY, ED WALSH, RECENTLY HAD TO DO WITH WHEN THEY RESPONDED. GRIEVING FAMILIES. EVERY CIVIL TIME THEY RESPONDED TO AN ALARM, SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN. YET, WE KNOW THERE'S NOT A SINGLE MOMENT, NOT A SINGLE MOMENT OF HARDSHIP THAT AMERICA HAS NOT BEEN TRANSFORMED BY AND MADE STRONGER BY. WE KNOW THIS WITH CERTAINTY. IT IS THE HISTORY OF THE JOURNEY OF AMERICA. WRITTEN NOT JUST IN THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WE HONOR HERE TODAY IN UNIFORM, BUT ANCHORED IN THE ON DAUNTING COURAGE AND UNCOMMON RESOLVE OF ORDINARY AMERICANS. THAT IS THE INCREDIBLE THING ABOUT AMERICA. WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN THAT THESE ARE QUALITIES INGRAINED IN OUR CHARACTER AND STAND IN OUR DNA. THEY ANIMATE OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THEY CONTINUE TO DEFINE WHO WE ARE. LEICESTER'S MARATHON, THE WHOLE WORLD WITNESSED ORDINARY CITIZENS DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS. STOCK KEEPERS DELIVERING BLANKETS, DOCTORS RUNNING THROUGH THE FINISH LINE TO THE HOSPITAL TO CARE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN WOUNDED. RESIDENCES OPENING THEIR DOORS TO FOLKS FOR SHELTER . WHAT HAS BECOME AN ICONIC PHOTOGRAPH, CARLOS IN HIS COWBOY HAT PUSHING JEFF OFF. THAT PHOTOGRAPH, THAT PICTURE, IS HANGING ON WALLS AROUND THE WORLD. CARLOS DID WHAT YOU BOSTONIANS DO AND AMERICANS DO. HE RAN TO HIM. RATHER THAN FROM HIM. THE NORMAL HUMAN INSTINCT IS TO RUN FROM AND NOT TO. IT WAS NOT A FIREFIGHTER. HE WAS NOT AT MEDIC. HE WAS NOT A POLICE OFFICER. HE INSTINCTIVELY RAN TWO. THAT IS WHAT BOSTONIANS DO AND THAT IS WHAT THEY DID. IT IS WHAT THE WHOLE WORLD TAUGHT. THAT IS WHAT AMERICA DOES. THEY ON AMERICANS DAY, WHEN I'M TOLD PEOPLE LINE UP TO START THE MARATHON, YOU WILL SEND A RESOUNDING MESSAGE AROUND THE WORLD TO THE TERRORISTS, THAT WE WILL NEVER YIELD. WE WILL NEVER COWHER. [APPLAUSE] AMERICA WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER, STAND DOWN WE ARE BOSTON, WE ARE AMERICA. WE RESPOND AND ENDURE AND OVERCOME AND WE OWN THE FINISH LINE.